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(warning: pic heavy)
(warning: pic heavy)
Our travel group consisted of myself, my wife and son, plus my brother-in-law and his wife and son. It was only a five hour flight from Manila to Narita but I was so eager to get there that it felt more like ten. A chilly 10°C greeted our group as we made our way from customs clearing to the train platform, trudging along with way too much luggage and a couple of baby strollers. No one in our party of six knew how to speak or read Japanese, so locating the right train took some effort. We actually ended up hijacking another group's seats on an express train that was meant for reserved seating. Thankfully chance passenger seats were available, which we occupied for the hour-long ride down to Sangenjaya where we had hotel reservations.
We found the train system to be efficient but also very intricate, and one could easily end up on the wrong platform or heading in the wrong direction. The subway goes down up to 5 levels in some stations, with each level having multiple platforms that go through different routes. Getting around by train wasn't exactly cheap either, and we easily consumed over 10000 yen each on our prepaid cards for our five day stay.
A smart move was reserving a couple of 4G sim cards prior to the trip for navigation and communication. Google maps was indispensable, providing specific instructions on which train lines to get on and switch over to from station to station. The people who manned the information booths also spoke enough English to help guide us to where we needed to go.
Rush hour was also a challenge. Office people dressed in full business attire and winter coats shoved themselves into the trains, along with high-school girls who didn't seem to mind the cold one bit in their iconic short pleated skirts and knee socks. Subway personnel were kind enough to help stuff everyone into the cars like one would stuff a king sized comforter into a washing machine, before doing a final safety check of the tracks and giving the driver the green light. With little kids in tow we had no choice but to start our days later than 9:30am after the morning rush subsided.
The first day was spent just getting settled in and visiting the nearby Shibuya area, where we took obligatory photos at the Hachiko shrine and Shibuya crossing. Day two and three were spent touring Yokohama Sea Adventure and Tokyo Disneyland respectively. The aquarium was lots of fun, and I still can't quite comprehend how a ginormous polar bear is capable of swimming so majestically with all that fur.
Tokyo Disney was also great despite the long queues at each attraction on a Monday, and I found this park to be cleaner and more organized than the other two I've been to. It was also pleasantly quiet for a children's amusement park. You expect kids to be screaming their heads off at a place like this but it was the complete opposite - at least for the locals - and you could easily tell who are from out of town by the amount of noise they made - our group included.
With both parks being near the sea, temperatures dropped down to 3°C in the afternoon, and we had to be in full winter gear. The cold weather was welcome though, as we didn't get too tired from walking around all day. Exhaustion crept in on all of us on the train rides back to our hotel, where "sumimasen" and "gomenasai" became our most used words whenever our strollers and chunky backpacks inconvenienced other commuters.
Tokyo Disney was also great despite the long queues at each attraction on a Monday, and I found this park to be cleaner and more organized than the other two I've been to. It was also pleasantly quiet for a children's amusement park. You expect kids to be screaming their heads off at a place like this but it was the complete opposite - at least for the locals - and you could easily tell who are from out of town by the amount of noise they made - our group included.
With both parks being near the sea, temperatures dropped down to 3°C in the afternoon, and we had to be in full winter gear. The cold weather was welcome though, as we didn't get too tired from walking around all day. Exhaustion crept in on all of us on the train rides back to our hotel, where "sumimasen" and "gomenasai" became our most used words whenever our strollers and chunky backpacks inconvenienced other commuters.
With the kid's itinerary good and done, the remaining days were allocated to the moms and dads. Day four was started with a morning trip to the ancient Sensoji temple and the adjacent market streets where I found a Kitsune mask, followed by an afternoon in Akihabara - which was nothing short of an otaku paradise.
Buildings were decorated in colorful anime livery, with entire floors dedicated to toys, electronics, arcade games and manga. It would have been nice to go full otaku mode, just diving into all of the shops, but it was already getting dark and we still had another item on our agenda for the day, so we just went straight to the more well known stores. Walking around Mandarake's toy section, my son giggled at the sight of an anime figure, which he pointed out had "really long mammaries" (his words not mine lol).
The streets were lined with capsule coin machines and claw games, and we saw girls in kawaii maid costumes beckoning us to visit their maid cafe, which could have been interesting, but was of lower priority on my Akihabara to-do list. I decided to spend the remaining time in Yodobashi. Known as one of the biggest plamo stores on the face of the earth, Yodobashi's 6th floor did not disappoint. Imagine a major supermarket, except instead of household items, the shelves were stocked with every plastic modeling genre and tool you could think of.
Floor to ceiling displays of hobby tools and supplies from the budget-friendly all the way up to the elite brands lined the far end. I didn't have time to check everything, but kits are very nicely priced. Just imagine the self-restraint it took for me not to go nuts and buy everything I ever wanted in this store alone. Despite the temptation, I just left with a small bag of hobby supplies.
The streets were lined with capsule coin machines and claw games, and we saw girls in kawaii maid costumes beckoning us to visit their maid cafe, which could have been interesting, but was of lower priority on my Akihabara to-do list. I decided to spend the remaining time in Yodobashi. Known as one of the biggest plamo stores on the face of the earth, Yodobashi's 6th floor did not disappoint. Imagine a major supermarket, except instead of household items, the shelves were stocked with every plastic modeling genre and tool you could think of.
Our final stop for the day was my most awaited destination of the trip: Diver City Tokyo! There are no words to describe the awe and excitement I felt as I gazed up at the majestic 1:1 Unicorn. There are very few things I promised myself I'd do before I kicked the bucket, and seeing this thing in real life was one of them. I'm not even kidding, I literally had to fight back the tears. The transformation sequence is not as complex as that of the actual kit, but the sheer size and the psychoframe effects are more than enough to trigger a sensory overload.
It was already getting too cold out for the kids, so after buying some souvenirs at the nearby Gundam Cafe we said goodbye (for now) to the Unicorn and headed up the mall to check out the Gundam Base. Once again I had to pick my jaw up from the floor as I stepped inside. Left of the main entrance stood rows upon rows of kits in every scale, flanked by a Strict-G clothing outlet. Exclusives and PBandai stuff was in stock. Still too pricey for me, but a collector with deep pockets could surely go nuts. Regular kits were more expensive than at Yodobashi, but still fairly priced.
It was already getting too cold out for the kids, so after buying some souvenirs at the nearby Gundam Cafe we said goodbye (for now) to the Unicorn and headed up the mall to check out the Gundam Base. Once again I had to pick my jaw up from the floor as I stepped inside. Left of the main entrance stood rows upon rows of kits in every scale, flanked by a Strict-G clothing outlet. Exclusives and PBandai stuff was in stock. Still too pricey for me, but a collector with deep pockets could surely go nuts. Regular kits were more expensive than at Yodobashi, but still fairly priced.
The right side of the hall held displays showing Bandai's design and molding process, along with some special works by recent GBWC champions. Large shelves also housed inspiring builds by world renowned modelers such as the legendary Naoki and Ziggy. Behind those was a building and painting area where purchased kits could be built. Work spaces and lockers are also available for rent, catering to those who don't have space for building at home. Once again I was challenged to be a responsible adult, putting down the hefty PG Exia box and settling for a single MG kit to commemorate my visit.
As I walked around the building area, there was a guy manning the rental counter. He was wearing an apron, quietly mounting parts to painting sticks. I just wanted to walk up to him and congratulate him for landing one of the best jobs in the world. My bro-in-law and I were told that if we wanted to improve our chances of visiting a place again, we had to kiss the ground - so we did, right at the foot of the Unicorn.
As I walked around the building area, there was a guy manning the rental counter. He was wearing an apron, quietly mounting parts to painting sticks. I just wanted to walk up to him and congratulate him for landing one of the best jobs in the world. My bro-in-law and I were told that if we wanted to improve our chances of visiting a place again, we had to kiss the ground - so we did, right at the foot of the Unicorn.
The remaining hours we had before our flight home on day five was allocated to general shopping. We explored the area around our hotel and found a nice shop called Village/Vanguard. The nondescript store turned out to be a treasure trove of pop culture paraphernalia ranging from Disney to Deadpool. It had a large manga section with titles from the well-known Akira and Ghost In the Shell to the more eccentric Inuyashiki and Junji Ito stuff. I was tempted to buy some just to look at the artwork, but I was worried I'd enjoy them too much and start another hobby. A bit more digging yielded a Babymetal limited album set that I simply couldn't resist, so I spent my tiny budget on that instead.
By 3pm it was time to head to the airport. We packed our bags, checked out of the hotel, and took the Narita express train again, this time on properly reserved tickets. My wife and I rounded out our shopping with some Japanese sweets and matching Onitsuka Tigers at the duty free shops in the airport before boarding the plane.
Had we stayed a week longer I might have been able to witness the GBWC finals and watch my countryman grasp the golden trophy, shake his hand, and tell him what a great honor he has brought to the Philippine plamo community.
On the plane my 4-year old son was crying as we were taking off, saying he was going to miss Tokyo a lot. I was sad to go myself. I'm surely going to miss the weather, the shops, the subway, the heated train and toilet seats, and the complete absence of flies, noise, and strange smells - even in the places you expect them. The cost of living in Tokyo is high indeed, but after experiencing the conveniences the locals enjoy, I understand why. I promised my son we would go back again some day, and stay longer than five days next time. Forever isn't out of the question.
Props to my buddy Sanberth for his travel tips! If you're heading to Japan and in need of a tour guide, send him a PM here: sanberth's facebook
Domo arigato for staying till the end! until next time, keep building plamo!
Domo arigato for staying till the end! until next time, keep building plamo!
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